High in a tree house live two very best friends. One is a girl and one is a dog. And everyone knows them as Evie and Pog.

Evie is six years old. She likes knitting and jumping and books and cake.

Pog is a pug. He is two and likes to drink tea and read the newspaper.

Evie and Pog also love to have fun! Join them as they take off on three happy adventures - Puppy School Mess, School Play Drama and Cake Stall Chaos.


Evie and Pog felt quite different to other junior fiction books we've read so far, which have either been firmly in a school setting or very much fantasy with lots of magic. This is somewhere in between, Evie is at school, but also lives in a treehouse with a dog that reads the paper. It is fun and silly and whimsical, and generally just a delight.

The layout of the books is gorgeous - the text and images are spread across the pages in a way that is fun and interesting, but still simple enough for a beginner reader to be able to follow without being confused about their order. We also both loved that there are diagrams and maps throughout the book.

We've been doing lots of reading together - taking it in turns to read pages, or one of us doing the voices - the text is a delight to read out loud. Amelia particularly loves Granny Gladys with her exclamations like "Leaping lamingtons!" and "Pollywolly doodle!"

Clearly Evie and Pog are a hit at our place - we'll be picking up the second book soon, and keeping an eye out for the third when it is released in May. If you'd like to hear a bit more about them from Tania herself, I highly recommend checking out the One More Page podcast (which is always a delight). Tania was a guest on episode 44, and I really enjoyed hearing her discuss not only this book, but her broader work too.

xo Bron

***
Evie and Pog Take Off by Tania McCartney
Out now from Harper Collins
Source: We couldn't resist buying this one when we saw it in the bookshop
Recommended Age: 6+ (although I think younger kids would enjoy having this read to them too)
Category: Junior fiction, humor

You can find Tania on her website here and her blog here.

There's a different title being featured each month, and I'm really looking forward to reading them and sharing my thoughts here on my blog as the months pass.
January's title is The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper. I started it today and was drawn into the story right away. I really enjoyed Cooper's The Woman in the Green Dress when I read it last year (check out my review here), so I have had my eye on this one for a while and am so glad to be getting into it.


You can find out more about HERSTORY : Women Who Rebel on the Harper Collins website here.
I'd love to know if you have a favourite historical fiction book, or whether any in this stack have caught your eye!

xo Bron

I enjoyed this book so much! I devoured it in a single day on Boxing Day - surely one of the greatest pleasures of that Christmas - New Year week if you can get away with dedicating a full day to reading a book.

I thought Adelaide was a wonderful, strong character, and she also felt authentic to me. I loved that she had been brave enough to set up a life for herself in a new place, and the way she stood up for herself, as well as other women in the town, and stood by her decisions. I felt like the interactions between Adelaide and Caleb felt natural and pretty well paced too - it was neither enemies to lovers nor love at first sight, which made it feel more authentic.

The way the setting was written really charmed me - I knew from the blurb that the story was set in a goldmining settlement in Victoria, but had assumed it would be Ballarat, so it was a lovely surprise to find it set in Gippsland, not far from where I grew up. It was abundantly clear that the book was incredibly well researched, and I was fascinated by the descriptions of what people went through to get the machinery and supplies into the town. I enjoyed reading the notes in the back of the about Walhalla, the actual settlement that was the inspiration for fictional Maiden's Creek.

I was so pleased to read that Alison is working on another book set in Maiden's Creek - I'm looking forward to spending more time there!


In terms of content warnings, this one does have a brief reference to violence against women, although it isn't a key theme. The main warning I'd like to give people considering what's happening here in Australia at the moment is that there is a part of the plot that involves a bushfire, and this is quite confronting, so if you are not comfortable with that this might be one to pick up a bit later.

I would recommend this to anyone who loved The Woman in the Green Dress.

xo Bron

***
The Postmistress by Alison Stuart
Release: Out now from Harper Collins Australia.
Source: I received a copy of The Postmistress from Harper Collins for review. All views are my own.
Format: Trade paperback, 416 pages
RRP: $32.99
On Goodreads
Find Alison Stuart online here

Ok, it's only the first week of November, but I have contender for my favourite Christmas read of the year. This was such a lovely and festive story!

I have to admit I have a particular soft spot for Christmas books with a UK setting, and this one was done so perfectly - the little references to places (and foods!) really made it feel like England to me.
I also really enjoyed all of the references to Christmassy pop culture - especially the Christmas movie references.


I loved that the focus was as much on the family relationships as on Eloise and Cara's respective romances. The whole family dynamic was very sweet - although we don't see a whole lot of them throughout the book the parents reminded me a bit of the parents in Gavin and Stacey.

Another thing I really liked about It Won't be Christmas Without You was that it is pretty short. I know that might sound a bit weird, but when it comes to these sweet, cosy, Christmassy books I do like something that I can read in just a sitting or two.

I was interested to see the author, Beth Reekles, also wrote The Kissing Booth, which was adapted to a movie by Netflix. I really enjoyed the writing, and now I'm keen to check out her backlist.

Overall, I thought this was quite delightful, and I'd definitely recommend it if you're after a quick, cute festive read!

xo Bron

***
It Won't be Christmas Without You by Beth Reekles
Out now from Harper Collins
Source: Free ebook from Harper Collins via NetGalley

The good egg has been good for as long as he can remember. While the other eggs in his carton are kind of rotten, he always does the right, kind, and courteous thing. He is a verrrrrrry good egg indeed! Until one day he decides that enough is enough! He begins to crack (quite literally) from the pressure of always having to be grade-A perfect.
 
I read this one with my 5 year old daughter, and here's what she thought:

I liked when the good egg learned to do what he wanted.
My favourite page was when the good egg came home and his friend drew some undies on the egg carton. He was happy to be home.

I thought this was a really sweet and fun book to read together, and the illustrations are so lovely.
There are couple of messages in here that I loved - that no one is perfect (and that's ok), that you really just need to worry about your own behaviour, not what everyone else is doing, and also the importance of 'self-care' - taking the time out to do things you love.  I think the themes are perfect for school starters, and it would be a great conversation starter for kids who are worried about getting everything right, or who might get a little bit too caught up in what everyone else is up to sometimes.

This copy is from the school library, but I'll be keeping an eye out for both this and The Bad Seed so we can have our own copies at home.

xo Bron

*** 
The Good Egg by Jory John and Pete Oswald
Publisher: Harper Collins
Source: School library 
Age range: from 4 years
Format: Hardcover picture book, 40 pages
 

Hello! Happy 2019!
We have arrived back in Australia after almost 5 weeks holidaying across North America, and I'm so excited to get back into talking about books again!

I thought a good way to start might be to give you a little sneak peek of some of the books I'll be reviewing over the next couple of weeks. With the exception of Once Upon a River, which I bought for bookclub, these have all been sent to me by their publishers.


Melody Trumpet - Gabrielle Tozer (out 29 Jan from Harper Collins)
As the daughter of global music superstars, Melody Trumpet was supposed to be extraordinary - a melodic genius to carry on the Trumpet legacy. 
But, as was discovered when Melody screamed her first out-of-tune note as a baby, this wasn't to be.
Ten years on, Melody is still kept away from the world in Trumpet Manor. 
If only secrets could stay hidden...

On the Come Up - Angie Thomas (out 5 Feb from Walker Books)
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. But when her mom unexpectedly loses her job and homelessness is staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it – she has to make it.

The Woman in the Green Dress - Tea Cooper (out now from HQ Fiction)
1853 Mogo Creek, NSW
Della Atterton, bereft at the loss of her parents, is holed up in the place she loves best: the beautiful Hawkesbury in New South Wales. Happiest following the trade her father taught her, taxidermy, Della has no wish to return to Sydney. But the unexpected arrival of Captain Stefan von Richter on a quest to retrieve what could be Australia's first opal, precipitates Della's return to Sydney and her Curio Shop of Wonders, where she discovers her enigmatic aunt, Cordelia, is selling more than curiosities to collectors. Strange things are afoot and Della, a fly in a spider's web, is caught up in events with unimaginable consequences…
1919 Sydney, NSW
When London teashop waitress Fleur Richards inherits land and wealth in Australia from her husband, Hugh, killed in the war, she wants nothing to do with it. After all, accepting it will mean Hugh really is dead. But Hugh's lawyer is insistent, and so she finds herself ensconced in the Berkeley Hotel on Bent St, Sydney, the reluctant owner of a Hawkesbury property and an old curio shop, now desolate and boarded up.
As the real story of her inheritance unravels, Fleur finds herself in the company of a damaged returned soldier Kip, holding a thread that takes her deep into the past, a thread that could unravel a mystery surrounding an opal and a woman in a green dress; a green that is the colour of envy, the colour buried deep within an opal, the colour of poison…

Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield
A dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the Thames. The regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open on an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a little child.
Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.
Is it a miracle?
Is it magic?
Or can it be explained by science?

The Widow of Ballarat - Darry Fraser (out now from HQ Fiction)

1854, Ballarat, Victoria When Nell Amberton's husband is shot dead by a bushranger, there are few who grieve his passing, and Nell least of all. How could she miss the monster who had abused her from the day they wed – the man who had already killed his innocent first wife? But his death triggers a chain of events that seem to revolve around the handsome bushranger who murdered him – a man to whom Nell, against her better judgement, is drawn.
But Nell has far more than a mysterious stranger to worry about. With a mess of complications around her late husband's will, a vicious scoundrel of a father trying to sell her off in matrimony, and angry relatives pursuing her for her husband's gold, she is more concerned with trying to ensure her safety and that of her friend, goldfields laundry woman Flora, than dealing with the kind of feelings that led her astray so catastrophically before.
After the violence on the goldfields, Nell's fate also hangs in the balance. It seems that, after all, she might need to do the one thing she has avoided at all costs … ask for the help of a man.

If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed I've read a couple of these already, and have been really enjoying them, and I'm looking forward to telling you more!

xo Bron

To be honest, generally when I see a new book set in or around World War 2 I wonder whether there is anything they can add to bigger story, when there's so much out there already. And in the case of The Love that I Have, what could an Australian writer in 2018 tell us about the life of a young German woman in Nazi Germany? But when I heard it pitched at TeenCon at All Day YA, and then started to see the reviews coming out, I put aside my doubts and requested a copy for review from Harper Collins. I am so glad I did! Despite the setting of this book being decades ago and on the other side of the world, I felt like The Love that I Have was super relatable and was really relevant to today's world.

The opening lines of this one grabbed me right away:
 "For as long as I can remember, I've loved three things: the summer holidays, my brother Walther and Adolf Hitler."


We follow teenage protagonist Margot to her first day at her new job in a concentration camp near Berlin, where she starts to discover that what she has been brought up to believe in isn't at all what it seems. I feel like one of the scary things we get from following along with Margot's is how easy it is for people in power to get others onside with opinions that are so unfounded and unjust (I think there are actually no words for how bad), and how easy it is to dehumanize a whole group of people to 'justify' horrific treatment of them. It has never occurred to Margot to question what she has been taught about Jewish people, and so she hasn't. I loved that this book encourages young people to question what they are told about people different to themselves, and I think this is something that remains so so important in today's world.

I generally enjoy the use of different perspectives for telling the story in novels, and I thought it was really well done in The Love that I Have. There were a few things characters did that I wasn't sure whether I thought was believable (for instance, some of the risks that Margot takes) but I didn't find this hard to forgive given I think the message is so important. There were a couple of twists that I didn't expect - this was definitely not a book where I felt like I knew or could guess how everything was going to turn out - and there was a little link back to Australia towards the end that I really appreciated.

For me it wasn't the love story here that won me over, rather I was really impressed by the thoughtful treatment of the issues behind it, and the way the story touches on the importance of compassion and kindness to people who are different to us, and also encourages the reader to put a filter on what they are hear about others. I really like that Harper Collins have Reading Group notes and a Teaching Guide (it is recommended for upper secondary) available for this one on their website.

xo Bron

***The Love That I Have***
 Available now from Harper Collins

On Goodreads   
Genre: Historical Fiction (Young Adult)
Source: Free book sent to me Harper Collins for review (all views are my own)
Read it if you loved: The Beast's Garden by Kate Forsyth
Find James Moloney here